On the night of 31 December, the city of Bengaluru was ready to ring in the New Year with celebrations all over which later into a horrific incident.
Reports of women being molested in different parts of the city emerged along with shocking CCTV clips and images.
What followed next was the ridiculous commentary of politicians blaming the “western culture” or comparing women to petrol and sugar.
A country which claims to be on a progressive path can surely do without the sickening mentality and chauvinist mindset of individuals claiming that it is wrong for a woman to step out at night without a male companion or to dress in a proper manner.
Satshya Anna Tharien transformed her ire into a brilliant poem that says: “I am not your sugar. I am not your petrol. I am a human being. With fire in my soul.”
In her Facebook post, she writes:
There’s so much conversation about the Bengaluru mass molestation - ranging from the ridiculous statements by politicians to “Well what else can you expect from a drunk crowd?”. It’s not just this incident - there’s been a wave of sexist statements that just don’t have a place today, in 2017. And the idea that these kind of ideas are still propagated makes me really mad. And when I’m angry, I write. And so I wrote a poem.
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